No-one's a bigger fan of high street fashion than us, but why 'get the look' when you can get the real deal for nearly the same price?!

Welcome to Cosmo's pick of five of the best online destinations to buy champagne-special designer fashion on a brown beer budget. From designer exclusives at affordable prices, to posh dress hire and pre-loved dream arm candy, we think we've found a great go-to online destination for every eventuality.

When the team behind online luxury fashion giant Net-a-Porter put their heads together to launch designer outlet store THEOUTNET.COM in 2009, seasoned shoppers awaited with bated breath. Fast forward four years, and the designer-at-a-discount shopping mecca has proved it's no little sister site, standing steadily on its own well-(Louboutin)-heeled feet and offering a lust-have selection of labels which is updated three times a week.

"What makes THE OUTNET unique is our product, content and service." explains THE OUTNET's managing director Stephanie Phair: "We've partnered with the best designer brands to offer their previous season stock at great prices, while giving customers a luxury experience through rich content, style advice and tips as well as a first class customer care service, such as same-day delivery in London and Manhattan. We are changing the face of discount shopping."

With over 200 brands to choose from – including its exclusive label Iris & Ink – and delivery service every bit as plush as Net-a-Porter, look out for THE OUTNET's weekly weekend sales – 72 hours of extra discounts on certain lines – as well as it's blinder of a clearance twice a year.

Spotted on THE OUTNET as we penned this? Leopard print shoe boots from Cameron Diaz's fave footwear label, Pour La Victoir for a cool £61, a chic, £35 Breton from By Malene Birger and an array of va-va-voom body con dresses from celeb favourite Herve Leger, which are SO worth saving up for!

When Girl Meets Dress launched, just over four years years ago, we had to get our head around it. We'd borrow a frock from a girlfriend, but from a website? How would that work?

Very well as it turns out. If – like us - you've got expensive tastes, a well-documented social life (can't be Instagrammed in the same look twice, right?!) and – for now, just while the career gets going – a tight budget, this is where Girl Meets Dress comes in. Devised by Anna Bance, a former stylist, and Xavier de Lecaros-Aquise, the online luxury hire destination offers dress and accessories rentals from around 150 designers and can stock 4000+ dresses at any one time – all of which could be yours for as little as £39 per night.

"We offer democratic luxury, so every woman can have Cinderella moments and feel beautiful and self-confident for her special events." says co-founder Anna Bance: "Given the economy and the growth of social media, women are increasingly savvy about investing in fashion. Everyone wants to post photos of themselves wearing designer outfits, but they don't want to wear those dresses again."

You can even have three options delivered to your house to try and just pay for the the one you wear. Once you're done, they even take care of the dry-cleaning.

We've checked out what's on offer and we reckon it's a service that would be as great for an all-important work interview (Stella McCartney day dress at £59) as a summer ball - for which we're thinking a floor-length frock from Kate Middleton's fave Temperley London for £109.

Covetique is the brainchild of former venture capitalist Nicola McClafferty, who – having worked alongside fashion brands in a financial capacity – realised there was a gap in the market for a high-end reseller of previously owned designer garb and went into business with fellow ex-investment banker Bobby Devins.

Launched in 2011, it's now the largest UK online marketplace for designer fashion, which makes it a go-to if you're looking for second-hand designer fashion at reasonable prices.

"More and more women are looking for quality in the fashion that they buy but without necessarily having to break the bank." reflects Nicola: "Looking to the pre-owned market is a really smart way of doing just that. By buying pre-owned designer items you can access the most coveted, high quality brands at reduced prices."

Unlike many other sites of this nature, Covetique holds all stock listed on its site, so you can be sure of its authenticity. There's no shirking on the service either:

"We curate and quality check every item that goes on our site, and offer the level a service that you should expect when purchasing online." adds Nicola.

What's not to love? Browsing the site we immediately spotted Dolce & Gabbana's AW10 Fair Isle knit sweater dress which, at £100, we could definitely justify buying (especially as we've been coveting it for, oh, four years) plus Jimmy Choo styles from £85 and a CHANEL 2.55 which, okay, okay, is still a little pricey at over a grand, but we're allowed to dream!

All shoppers on the site are signed-up members, gaining access to up to six designer sales daily. These last up to one week and offer massive discounts on a wide range of brands – we spotted Tom Ford and Ray-Ban sunnies, Replay denim and Tommy Hilfiger denim.

Becoming a member is super-simple: simply register your email and details on the site to receive regular updates on forthcoming sales. And, given there are over 1500 brands on the site at any one time, you might want to be careful how you open them.

What do we have our eye on? Classic Ray-Ban Wayfarers and Aviators from £85, French Connection body-con party dresses from £49.50 and (while we're dreaming), statement heels from Dolce & Gabbana starting at £175.

It's not all about vintage y'know: eBay turns 18 this year, and boy has it changed since it first launched! These days it's a go-to for every kind of fashion, from worn-once high street dresses to its well-known vintage finds and – most importantly for our quest to look good on our brown beer budget – designer fashion.

It's a hub where amateur enthusiasts become fully-fledged fashion retailers, like Emma Allen at Style Sequel, who became addicted to selling her own cast-offs, so decided to turn to selling everyone else's too: "We sell everything from very top end designer, such as Hermes and CHANEL, to contemporary labels including Christopher Kane and its often only been worn once or not at all."

If you're concerned about authenticity, buying through a dealer like Emma guarantees you're getting the real deal: "Every item is handled by us and is 100% authentic, guaranteed. We also package everything really carefully with branded packaging and send it within 48 hours, so you get a really bespoke service."

So what can you expect? We spotted J Brand Houlihans for £9.99, a va-va-voom Alexander McQueen dress at £220 and Christian Louboutin 'Very Prive' peep-toe heels for £199.99 (nearly half price). So while it might not be pocket money prices, it's definitely a great way to bag yourself a deal.

Look out for #eBayStories on Twitter and Instagram – a campaign celebrating 18 years of eBay

Cosmopolitan, Part of the Hearst UK Fashion & Beauty Network
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